Sir Allan MacNab, "the
gallant Knight of Hamilton", to his friends and admirers, and, to his
enemies and his political opponents, "a bluff old Scotch bully",
occupied for over a quarter of a century a prominent place on the political
stage of Upper Canada. In many ways, he was ever an interesting character, from
the day of his sudden entry into public life, in 1830, until his last
appearance in the House of Assembly in 1856, when he was carried in, with his
limbs swathed in flannels, a victim of gout, to protest against the actions of
members of his own political party who were crowding out the "old
Chieftain" to make room for his young and active lieutenant, John
Alexander Macdonald, whose star was rapidly rising on the political horizon.

In the church-register of St.
Mark's Anglican Parish of Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake), under date of June
24th, 1799, we find a record of the baptism of "Allan Napier MacNab of
York (Toronto)". That was the future Sir Allan MacNab. The baptismal
ceremony was performed by the Rev. Robert Addison, who had already been rector
of St. Mark's and military Chaplain of Niagara for seven years. The infant
MacNab (1) was then over a year old, having been
born at Niagara, February 19, 1798. He was the son of Lieut. Allan MacNab, who
had come to Canada as an officer in the Queen's Rangers, and Anne Napier,
daughter of Captain William Napier, Commissioner of the Port of Quebec. The
MacNabs resided for some time at Niagara but had moved with the Government to
York, where Lient. MacNab (2) was Usher of the
Black Rod. (3)

Lieutenant MacNab, Allan's
father, was an incurable spendthrift and for the non-payment of his debts was
frequently in gaol. The sheriff was always on his heels. In the "Upper
Canada Gazette" of April14, 1798, published at Niagara, we read the
following notice: "Two Hundred dollars reward! Home District
(4) of Upper Canada, Newark, April 14, 1798. Broke the gaol of this
district on the night of the 1st instant [the 1st of April, let it be noted],
Lieutenant Allan MacNab, a confined debtor. He is a reduced Lieutenant of Horse
on the half-pay list of the late corps of Queen's Rangers, aged 38 years, or
thereabouts, five feet three inches high, fair complexion, light hair, red
beard: much marked with smallpox, round shouldered, stoops in walking, a native
of the Highlands of Scotland." Such is the description of the person of
Sir Allan Napier MacNab's father as given by the wag Alexander Macdonell (5) the then sheriff of the Home District.

The money spending habit
decended from Lieutenant MacNab to his son Allan who, as a young man, was, like
his father, ever in debt and continually dodging his creditors. To keep out of
goal he was forced to turn his hand to manual work and so he soon became an
adept at the carpenter's bench. He later turned successively actor, soldier,
and sailor.

The MacNab residence (6) in Muddy York was situated just off King
Street in the woods, east of Berkeley Street, (7)
near the Don River bridge. One of Allan's sisters was considered "the
belle of the day" in York society. A frequent visitor to the MacNab home
was Laird MacNab, "the MacNab", as he styled himself, from Kennel
Lodge, Arnprior, Ont.

Allan's family were members of
the congregation of St. James' Anglican Church. In fact, most of the Protestant
families of early York were members of the Church of England and, with the
Governor, worshipped at St. James'. There were met the Baldwins, the Jarvises,
the Macaulays, the Ridouts, the Chewetts, etc.

Young Allan attended the Home
District School taught by the Rev. Okill Stuart, (8)
the pastor of St. James' Anglican Church, on the southeast corner of King and
George Streets. That school was opened about 1800 (9),
and young MacNab entered at nine years of age. It may be of interest to note
that amongst his school companions were to be found several Catholic boys:
Angus Macdonell and Donald Macdonell; (10)Edward Hartney, son of the Barrack Master of York; Bernard, Henry and
Marshall Glennon, sons of Dr.. Glennon; and also the sons of the Frenchmen
Belcourt, Hamell and Marian, famous bakers and caterers of York, in the early
days.

Allan MacNab was but a lad in
his 15th year when, on June 18, 1812, the Americans declared war on Canada. The
"skirl"of the bagpipes awakened the Highland blood in his veins, so
he shouldered his rifle and took part with his father in the defense of York
when it was attacked by an American army under General Dearborn and Admiral
Chauncey with a total force of 1600 men, on April 27, 1813. He later served as
a midshipman on Sir James Yeo's fleet, on board "The Wolfe", in the
attack on Sackett's Harbor. He also played a brave part in the capture of Fort
Niagara on the American side of the Niagara river, on December 18, 1813; and on
the 29th of the same month, under General Riall, he took part in the burning of
Black Rock and Buffalo. He was very active, for we meet him again in September,
1814, with Sir George Prevost, in the attack on Plattsburg on Lake Champlain.

The War over, he returned to
York where he secured a position as a copying clerk in one of the government
offices. He was soon, however, articled as a law student in the office of the
Attorney General, the Honorable D'Arcy Boulton. As usual, he was ever in debt,
so to bolster his finances he engaged, for a time, in real estate enterprises.
Acting as a land agent for the Hon. Henry J. Boulton,
(11) he undertook on Yonge Street, just north of Finch's Corner,
south of Thornhill, the foundation of a village to which he gave the name of
Dundurn. The undertaking was a failure.

On graduation in law he moved
to Hamilton (12) where he began the practice of
his profession. At the time the town contained less than two thousand souls.
His law practise and popularity grew rapidly. In 1826 he was called to the Bar,
and he became the first Q .C. ever appointed In the Province.

His work must have been very
remunerative for he soon bought Dundurn Park and began the construction of
"Dundurn Castle" on a magnificient site overlooking Burlington Bay.
The property, which cost MacNab £2,500, had been originally owned by Richard
Beasley, who settled there in 1777. MacNab planned to make out of it a
miniature of Dundurn, the ancestral estate of the MacNabs on Loch Earn in
Perthshire. The Chateau in Hamilton, an immense stone building of 72 rooms, was
begun in 1832 and finished in 1835.

In 1829 an event occurred,
which, perhaps, changed the whole course of MacNab's life and started him, all
unexpectedly, on a long parliamentary career. He accidently acquired great
notoriety and sympathy on the occasion of what is known as the "Hamilton
Outrage", by which is meant the parading by the Tories of the effigy of Sir
John Colborne, the lieutenant governor, through the Hamilton streets. At the
parliamentary inquiry which followed MacNab refused to testify, as he did not
wish to incriminate friends or clients. He was, therefore, sent for contempt of
court, on the motion of William Lyon MacKenzie, to the common gaol. He thus
immediately became a popular hero, with the result that in the following year,
1830, he was elected Tory member of the legislative assembly for Wentworth
County, which seat, or that of the City of Hamilton, he held for 26 years. He
soon made his presence felt in the Assembly. In 1830 he seconded Mr. Sampson's
motion to expel MacKenzie from the House. A life-long opponent of MacKenzie,
and of his ideas and policies for democratic reforms, MacNab took a prominent
part in the suppression of the rebellion of 1837. He organized the "Men of
Gore" (13) and led one of the three
divisions of government troops that marched to Montgomery's Tavern on Yonge
Street, to meet the rebels, December 7th, 1837. He was responsible for the
burning of the "Caroline"; be pursued and chased the
"rebels" who, under Dr. Duncombe, disturbed the London district. He
captured numbers of them, crowded them into the jails, and sent many of them to
the gallows. For his loyal services in the rebellion he was knighted in 1838.
Wellington designated him, "The right arm of British Power in North
America".

As a member of the Assembly he
was ever busy. From 1841 to 1844 he was leader of the Tory opposition. From
1844 to 1848 he was a second time speaker of the Assembly. From 1848 to 1854 he
was again opposition leader. In the latter year, on the defeat of the Hincks
Ministry, he became Prime Minister of the Province of Canada and formed with
Merin and Taché an administration which lasted for two years and settled the
questions of Clergy Reserves and, Seigniorial Tenure.

In 1856, much against his will,
he was forced to resign the premiership. Broken in health and in spirits, he
went to England where, at Brighton, he gradually grew better. While in England
in 1858 he was created a baronet. In 1860 he accompanied the Prince of Wales,
later Edward the Seventh, on his visit to Canada. The Prince was received at
Dundurn. MacNab settled down again in Canada and was elected to the legislative
council of which body he was speaker when he died rather suddenly in 1862.

THE MAN AND POLITICIAN

Sir Allan MacNab was for years
Hamilton's outstanding citizen. He had a wide circle of friends, and the
leading men in both the social and political life of Canada were frequently and
splendidly entertained at his hospitable board. He spent money lavishly and was
a perfect host. In fact, like his father before him, his prodigality often ran
him into debt. His large heart and his open hand, however, won him many friends
and disarmed many enemies. In 1832, in the terrible cholera which afflicted
Hamilton and the other towns and cities of Upper Canada, he personally gave
bail for all the impoverished debtors who had been shut up in the Hamilton
jail. Because of his sociable and friendly nature, "he seemed to possess a
charm all his own with his 'ready' wit, his good humor, and his devil-may-care
manner." An admirer has written of him: "His face was his fortune; he
possessed a handsome person, a dignified manner, a graceful address and a
pleasant voice. He had great physical strength and was both courageous and
active. No difficulty deterred him, no labor distressed him. We need not,
therefore, be surprisedthat he pushed his way successfully through
many scenes of public life." (14)

He had no great knowledge of
the law; he was not an astute politician, or social economist; nor was he an
orator; but he had an abounding confidence in himself and, like Caesar of old,
he trusted implicitly his star of destiny. His political opponents cursed his
"cheek" and his good fortune; they feared his aggressiveness and his
fiery temper and dubbed him "the stormy petrel of the House."

Sir Allan was an uncompromising
Tory, was wedded to the old ideas of class privilege and autocratic rule, and
was truly the last survival and the last die-hard of the Family
Compact régime. Though stubborn and uncompromising in his political views, we
must admit that his many fine qualities were remarked and appreciated by the
public. It was no small feat for him to retain for twenty-five successive years
the confidence of the electorate of the City of Hamilton and the County of Wentworth.

Sir Allan MacNab ever boasted
of his loyalty to the Crown and of his respect for the authority of government.
With the Tories, loyalty was supposed to be a cardinal virtue. How, therefore,
he could reconcile his actions on the occasion of the passage of the Rebellion
Losses Bill in 1849 (15) with his much vaunted
principles of law and order, respect for his sovereign and the sovereign's
representative in Canada, and with obedience to the rightfully constituted
government, has always been a puzzle to honest and unbiased historians.

He was the leader of the Tory
opposition at the time, and as a result of his wild invective,
(16) his uncompromising stubbornness, his opposition to the will of
the majority of the House and his inflammatory speeches, disgraceful riots
broke out in Montreal. The homes of his political opponents were wrecked, blood
was shed, the Parliament Buildings (17) were
burnt, with their beautiful library and state records, and Lord Elgin, the
Queen's representative, was grossly insulted and pelted with stones and rotten
eggs in the streets, by the English-speaking, Protestant, Tory mob. (18) The die-hard "loyalist" Tories
shouted "No pay to rebels"! and later they issued a manifesto, (19) signed by the Abbotts, the Redpaths, the
Molsons, the Galts, the MacPhersons, etc, in favor of annexation with the
United States. (20) Consistency, thou art a
jewel!

Of course Sir Allan saw the
Tory fabric crashing down upon his head. The ideas of reform, championed by
such men as Baldwin, Lafontaine, Hincks, Blake, (21)
etc., terrified him. The old order was being ruthlessly swept away, carrying
him with it. In an effort to stem the torrent, he threw overboard to expediency
his boasted principles of loyalty and thus marred by disgraceful conduct an
otherwise honorable and useful publiclife.

We cannot agree with Stephen
Leacock when he says : "The opposition of Sir Allan MacNab and the
reputable leaders of Conservatism was based on a genuine conviction that the
safety of the Country was at stake". We are inclined to believe rather
that it was based, in great part, on racial prejudice, a warped and narrow
vision and the hope of embarrassing the government, by inflaming the passions
of the Tory mob.

ENTERS CATHOLIC CHURCH

The reception of Sir Allan
MacNab, Baronet, by the Right Reverend John Farrell, D.D., bishop of Hamilton,
into the Catholic Church shortly before his death, which occurred on Friday,
Aug. 8th, 1862, came as a sudden shock to his many Protestant friends and
Protestant political associate. This is not to be wondered at, when we consider
what many honest but unenlightened Protestant people in Upper Canada, one
hundred years ago, believed the Catholic Church to be. Three centuries of
persistent and villainous anti-Catholic propaganda had done its work. Even
today, many Protestants are suspicious of things Catholic. Only last week I
read in one of our Catholic papers the following lines: "We must face the
fact that many non-Catholics mistrust the Church. They suspect her aim, methods
and her very nature. Vicions propaganda has caused this feeling to be
deep-seated and widespread. Even among those who are friendly disposed towards
us, there remain some lingering misgivings." (22)
If that is true today, matters were far worse a hundred years ago. Allowing for
all that, Sir Allan MacNab's conversion would have attracted, perhaps, but
little attention outside of Hamilton, and would have created but little
commotion in the country, had it not been for the shameful and slanderous
attacks made upon Bishop Farrell by George Brown, the bigoted and fanatical
editor of the Toronto "Globe". The Hamilton "Times", a
Protestant newspaper, defended Bishop Farrell and showed that the prelate had
only done his duty when called by written invitation from Sir Allan to his dying
bedside for "spiritual purposes".

To George Brown and the
"Globe" the Catholic Church was something not to be trusted. To him
the poor "deluded" Catholic layman was an intellectual slave who
dared not think for himself and who was ever the victim of wile, priestcraft
and every deceit. Sir Allan MacNab in his dying hours, said Brown, when
sickness had weakened his powers of intellect, was seduced by a
"Roman" bishop into the betrayal of the religion of his fathers and
into the renouncing of his Protestant faith. Brown seemed to forget that the
"clan MacNab" was of Catholic birth, and that it had remained
Catholic for hundreds of years, until the ancient faith was torn from it by
violence and persecution. The clan MacNab had inherited, with the other Highlanders,
the Catholic faith of Iona which Columba, in 563, had brought from Ireland to
"Abyn' Hills" If, therefore, Sir Allan did become a Catholic before
his death, it was simply the return of a child to the paternal roof tree, the
ancient Catholic Church of Scotland.

We are not inclined to blame
much the uneducated Protestant layman who believed Browns wild and gratuitous
statements. In every generation of the last century lucre-loving demagogues,
impostors and religious fanatics, parading up and down the country, slandered
and ridiculed the Catholic Church and excited the mob to violence against her.
Strange individuals of the type of George Brown, Maria Monk, Margaret L.
Shappard, Tom Heflin and "Judge" Rutherford regularly appear and disappear,
even in our own day, but they are soon forgotten. They really represent nobody
but themselves. Unfortunately, however, Brown In his day was looked upon as an
educated man. The people felt that they could believe him. In reality, he was
only a half-educated bigot. Week after week in the columns of the
"Globe" he pictured the Catholic Church as a foul and deceitful
organization, grossly immoral, the mother of every vice.

The reader may examine for
himself the files of the "Globe", which are to be found complete in
the Toronto Reference Library. He will be amazed. As a writer remarks:
"The merciless types of the 'Globe' tell the facts." Yes; they tell
us the facts regarding Brown's ignorance and blind prejudice. Never before, or
since, did any public man in Canada give such an exhibition of intolerance and
stupid bigotry. "He pictured," says Adam, a Protestant writer,
"the Roman hierarchy as an odious system that menaced the well-being of
our social and political institutions, and the public were informed that it was
their duty to resist the enemy." Now, in August, 1862, Brown had caught a
Roman bishop at his nefarious work! Farrell, the "papist" prelate of
Hamilton, by his wiles and craft, had seduced, in his dying hours, Sir Allan
MacNab, a great Canadian public man! (23)

Strange as it may seem, these
ravings of George Brown were believed not only by many a man of the street but
also, as we shall see later on, by men of the so-called "better
class", men of education and social standing, members of parliament,
members of the judiciary and others prominent in many walks of life. That is
what we find it difficult to explain.

At all events, Sir Allan
MacNab, as the lights of the eternal hills began to break around him, had, of
his own free will, joined the Catholic Church. He had bent his proud head and
accepted the absolution of his sins from a "Roman bishop" Horrible!!
It was clear, therefore, as already remarked, that in his dying hours he was
the victim of a dark conspiracy. That was the only explanation. George Brown of
the Toronto "Globe" had so decided, so he grasped his trusty sword
and buckler, swore a solemn oath to "right the wrong" and plunged
headlong into the fray. Sir Galahad was never more ready for the onset. Don Quixote
never more valiantly charged a windmill! A fierce attack on Bishop Farrell
immediately followed. The "Globe" fumed and spumed with indignation.
Its columns were crowded with insinuations, accusations, fabrications, and
denunciations. Bishop Farrell had lied! That was plain. George Brown knew it.
He was shocked, and so he shouted: "We do not believe that Sir Allan
MacNab told Bishop Farrell that he would join the Catholic Church and die in
its fold." He continued: "By a trick of a single relative, aided by
the Catholic Church, the deceased had been made a Catholic while in a state of
insensibility." He boldly asserted, too, that Sir Allan would have been
guilty of hypocrisy and dishonesty by remaining in the Anglican Church since
he, had lost faith in its teachings and had come to believe that the Roman
Catholic Church was the true Church of Jesus Christ. He should, to be honest,
have become a Catholic immediately. The story of his conversion, as told by
Bishop Farrell, made him out to be a hypocrite.

We may state that, as a rule,
converts move slowly towards the Catholic Church. Much prayer and study must
ever precede the final step. It may take months; it may take years. Grace acts
quietly, is not precipitate. Few converts are struck down suddenly, as was Saul
on the road to Damascus. It took Newman, with his giant intellect, from 1832 to
1845, thirteen years, finally to admit, beyond all doubt and cavil, that Rome
was right. Such being the case, how can anyone accuse his fellow man of
dishonesty in the things of the soul? Newman's prayer: "Lead, kindly
light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead thon me on!" is the prayer of every
convert.

Now, let us examine the facts
of the case. Stubborn facts they are. To begin with, we may remark that Sir
Allan MacNab was not without his faults and peculiarities. He was stubborn by
nature, slow to accept a change, slow to admit that he was wrong. This is shown
by his dogged and unreasonable adherence to "old Tory" principles
when all the younger Tories around him were demanding a change of policy to
meet new conditions. Afflicted with gout, he was rather bad tempered in his
later years. He could, too, he violent and intolerant, as he was in Montreal on
the occasion of the burning of the Parliament Buildings in that city. He was a
strong character. His motto was "No surrender!" Yet strangely enough
he quietly surrendered to Rome.

In the realm of religion, we
must say, however, that Sir Allan was ever cool, deliberate and broad minded.
He practised his own faith and he was tolerent of the religious ideas of
others. He was never a religious bigot. Though an Anglican himself, he did not
favor an Anglican State Church, which In Upper Canada would enjoy, at the
expense of the other Protestant denominations, wealth and privilege, as did the
Anglican Establishment in England. He admitted also the legal status of the
Church of Scotland in the Province. In the House of Assembly, he showed himself
friendly to the demands of the Catholics. It is true that in the House he defended
the Orange Order, very turbulent and disorderly at the time, when Honorable
Robert Baldwin and other enlightened Protestant gentlemen of the day, wished,
for the sake of peace and order in the community, to abolish it entirely, but
that issue was really political. There were many Orange votes in Wentworth
County and the City of Hamilton. He had many Orange friends.

He seems to have ever possessed
a keen sense of religious duty and respect for the things of God. Brought up in
the faith of the Church of England, he was for years a faithful attendant at
the Anglican Church (Christ Church), in Hamilton. To this the Rev. Gamble
Geddes, pastor, bears testimony. He thus in public prayer offered public
worship to God. He may have been equally faithful to the practice of private
prayer. We know that he was a frequent reader of the Holy Bible. Prayer (his
own prayers and the prayers of his Catholic wife and Catholic daughters) was,
no doubt, at the root of his conversion. It is the source of every conversion.
We all know the case of Cornelius, the Centurion of Caesarea, the first Gentile
to receive the Faith, as related by St. Luke in the Tenth Chapter of the
"Acts of the Apostles". We are told that Cornelius was "a
religious man and fearing God with all his house and always praying to
God".

No one who understands the
Catholic religion and who has studied and weighed the Catholic influences that
surrounded Sir Allan in the sanctuary of his own home, will be surprised at his
request to Bishop Farrell to be received into the Catholic Church in his last
illness. (24)

Sir Allan had married, on May
6th, 1821, Miss Elizabeth Brooks, daughter of Lieutenant Daniel Brooks. She
died prematurely in 1826. In 1837 (some say in 1831) he took in second marriage
a very devout Catholic lady, Mary Stuart, daughter of Sheriff John Stuart of
the Johnstown district. (25) She gave him a
very happy family life. Her influence over him must have been very great, for
their two daughters, the fruit of their union, were brought up in the Catholic
faith and although their mother died in 1846, sixteen years before the baronet,
when the daughters were yet very young (under ten years of age) Sir Allan never
interfered with them in any way regarding the practice of their religion; on
the contrary, he rather encouraged them, for, on their mother's death, he
brought into his home, to look after his house and children, Mrs. David MacNab,
his wife's sister, also a Catholic. (26) This
would lead us to believe that for years Sir Allan had great admiration for the
Catholic religion.

We might remark, too, that when
his daughters sought Catholic marriages, Sir Allan did not interfere, but
expressed himself as pleased that they might find life partners of their own
religion. One of the daughters, Mary Stuart MacNab, married George, second son
of Sir Dominic Daly, Sir Dominic was a well-known Catholic figure in the
political life of Canada at the time. He became successively Lieutenant
Governor of Prince Edward Island and Governor of South Australia. The other
daughter, Sophia Mary, married the Rt. Honorable William Coutts Keppel,
Viscount Bury, later the 7th Earl of Albermarle, and we are told by Charles
Donlevy in the "Mirror" that he, too, joined the Catholic Church.
Sophia Mary MacNab and Viscount Bury were married in Dundurn Castle by Bishop
Strachan, the Anglican Bishop of Toronto, assisted by the Venerable Archdeacon
of Kingston, Uncle of the Bride, Thursday, November 15th, 1855. The bride, who
was a Catholic, would not agree to the performance of the ceremony in the
Protestant Church. With her decision Sir Allan concurred.

It is also remarkable that Sir
Allan appointed a Catholic (Mrs. David MacNab, his sister-in-law) executrix of
his last will and testament. Mr. T. C. Street was appointed co-executor, but he
refused to act when he learned that Sir Allan had died a member of the Catholic
Church.

On one occasion, some six
months before his death, when entertaining his future son-in-law, the son of
Sir Dominic Daly, Sir Allan invited Bishop Farrell and Father Edward Gordon to
dinner at his residence, "Dundurn Castle". After the dinner, while
they were walking in the beautiful grounds of the Château, the baronet told
Bishop Farrell that he intended to die a member of the Catholic Church. The
question of becoming a Catholic had apparently occupied him for some time. A
rumor to that effect had been circulated, and the Rev. Gamble Geddes had
challenged him on the matter, but Sir Allan avoided discussion. He knew only
too well that his entry into the Catholic Church would provoke a storm of
criticism; his action would be misunderstood, his motives misinterpreted, his
sincerity and honesty challenged and he would lose many friends. He appeared
ready, however, to make all necessary sacrifices. Months before illness hetold
the members of his family circle that he would resign all his offices, retire
entirely from public life, leave Canada, and return to England where he would
have Dr Manning (later Cardinal, himself a convert) receive him into the
Catholic Church. His sudden illness, however, precipitated matters; he grew
rapidly worse and so decided to become a Catholic without delay.

On the first or second day of
the illness, (27) which terminated in his
death, - before, however, he, or any of his friends anticipated any serious
results, - he, Sir Allan, said to one of his most intimate friends "I am
about to take an important step".

Bishop Farrell, having heard
that Sir Allan was ill, called on Tuesday, August 5th, at Dundurn, to enquire
regarding his condition. Sir Allan, hearing that the bishop was at the Castle,
insisted on seeing him and before his Lordship left, the baronet said that he
had not forgotten the matter which he had mentioned some time previously. The
bishop understood the remark and told him not to delay too long his entry into
the Church.

On Thursday, April 7th, 1862,
his Lordship received a letter from Sir Allan stating that he wished to see him
"for spiritual purposes". That was clear enough. The Bishop came at
once, as requested, found the baronet very ill but in full possession of his
faculties. At his request, the bishop instructed him briefly, had him pronounce
an abjuration of heresy and renounce masonry, (28)
heard his confession, baptized him conditionally and received him into the
Catholic Church. That was Thursday, August 7th, 1862. Sir Allan died the next
day Friday at 4 P.M.

In the register of Baptisms of
St. Mary's Cathedral, Hamilton, we find the following entry:

"On
the 7th day of August 1862, we the undersigned bishop received the profession
of faith of the Honorable Sir Allan Napier Joseph MacNab, Baronet, A.D.C., have
absolved him from heresy and have given him conditional baptism, in presence of
his brother-in-law Andrew Stuart, Esquire, and his sister-in-law Mrs. Sophia
MacNab.

John,
Bishop of Hamilton"

It is to he noted that Bishop
Farrell came at the written request of Sir Allan and "for spiritual
purposes". Bishop Farrell was sent for. Sir Allan in his sickness did not
send at all for his former pastor, the Rev. Gamble Geddes.
(29) Mr. Geddes was not even notified of the baronet's sudden
illness. He came, however, on Monday, Aug. 4th, and read prayers. He had heard
down town of the serious condition of Sir Allan. When he called again on
Thursday, the 7th, he was met by the news that the Catholic prelate, Bishop
Farrell, had been there and that he had received the baronet into the Catholic
Church. As was natural, he was much upset by the "defection" of one
of his leading parishioners. He insisted, however, on seeing the sick man and
intruded himself uninvited into his room. There he came face to face with
Bishop Farrell. The following Sunday the Rev. Mr. Geddes gave vent to his
feelings in a pronouncement from his pulpit, in which he denied that Sir Allan
had died a Catholic. In a letter which he wrote and which appeared in the
"Globe" on Friday, August 15th, 1862, he, said: "I found that a
"Romish" bishop and priest had been admitted and had been using their
art and machinations to subvert the faith of my poor old friend."

All this is but a repetition of
the case of the Honorable John Elmsley, son of Chief Justice Elmsley, an
outstanding member of the Church of England in York (Toronto) and member of the
Governor's Executive Council, a public man of great wealth and influence, who
in 1832, much to the chagrin and displeasure of Archdeacon Strachan (later
bishop), in the full heyday of his splendid manhood, abandoned, for conscience
sake, the Church of England, and entered the Catholic Church. Neither Sir Allan
MacNab nor Honorable John Elmsley, both of whom enjoyed wealth, as well as
social and political honors, as Protestants, had anything to gain materially by
joining the Catholic Church, which in Upper Canada at the time was a small
religious body without influence, made up almost entirely of poor, uneducated
Irish immigrants, whom English landlords at home had robbed and pillaged and
whom English law had, because of their religion, reduced to the state of serfs,
helots or slaves.

The conversion of the Honorable
John Elmsley in Toronto in 1832 raised a storm of controversy. The conversion
of Sir Allan MacNab in Hamilton in 1862, also created, because of the bigotry
of George Brown, a temporary disturbance. Archdeacon Strachan in 1832 said and
wrote hard words. The Rev. Gamble Geddes was far more moderate, despite his use
of the words "Romish" and "Popish", against which use Mrs.
David MacNab protested. Nothing, however, but sin can stop the mysterious
workings of divine grace in the soul of man. Sir Allan MacNab in Hamilton (a
Scotchman), as did in Toronto thirty years before him, the Honorable John
Elmsley, (an Englishman), and as did, in Halifax, some years after him Sir John
Thompson, Prime Minister of Canada (an Irishman); abandoned, at great
sacrifice, the faith in which he had been raised and which he had been taught to
love, and finally found peace and contentment in the bosom of the Catholic
Church.

A writer in "Portraits of
British Americans" writing of Sir Allan "MacNab's last hours says
beautifully:

"Much
was said at that closing scene on which we can offer no opinion; much was
published that we care not to repeat. Towards the end of his illness, when time
was weary and. death was near, when the shadows of evening were lengthening
into night, when heart and flesh were failing, when his hand was on the latch and
the gates of immortality were opening to his view, the clergy of the Church of
Rome, by special request attended him. The mystery of these last days will not
be made clear to us; we must be content to scan gently and not presume to pass
judgment on what we can now see only in part, and what peradventure in this
life, we can never understand perfectly."

At Sir Allan's funeral a scene
was enacted which shows to what extent George Brown's false and slanderous
accusations were believed. Distinguished Protestant political and social
friends of the deceased, men who had been for years his associates and boon
companions, men who had frequently enjoyed the lavish hospitality so generously
offered at Dundurn Castle, arrived from Toronto, Kingston, etc., to attend the
funeral and pay their last respects to their departed friend. Amongst these men
were Chief Justice Draper, Chief Justice McLean, the Honorable Mr. Cameron, (30) Chancellor Van Koughnet, and others. When
they learned, however, that Sir Allan had died a Catholic and that he was to be
buried by Bishop Farrell with a Catholic funeral, instead of with Protestant or
Masonic rites, they withdrew, leaving scarcely the pall bearers to lower the
body into its last resting place in Sir Allan's private cemetery on the Dundurn
Park Grounds. (31)

It is a strange and mysterious
fact that few converts to the Catholic Church have escaped the charge of
dishonesty and inconsistency. Sir Allan MacNab was no exception. Newman had to
write his "Apologia" to defend himself against the accusations of
Kingsley and others; and Dr. Silliman Ives, the distinguished Anglican bishop
of North Carolina, who resigned his charge and became a Catholic, was similarly
severely criticised. The story of their persecution and ostracism is the story
of many who took the road to Rome… So will it ever be!

I shall now place before my
readers as an appendix, the story of Sir Allan Napier MacNab's conversion as
told by Bishop Farrell himself in answer to the attack made upon him by the
Editor of the Toronto "Globe". The Bishop's letter bears the
unmistakable mark of honesty and is a plain and simple exposition of facts. It clears the name of Bishop Farrell from the
charges of dishonesty, wile and deceit, and. it should' exonerate the baronet
from all suspicion of hypocrisy or dishonesty.

The reader may judge for
himself:

"(To
the Editor of the Evening Times, Hamilton)

My
dear Sir,

After all that has been said and published relative to the conversion of the
late Sir Allan MacNab to the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, and his
supposed or pretended return to the Anglican belief, an impartial public
appears to have a right to expect from me a simple and candid statement of the
facts of the case. Before entering upon the subject I must complain of the very
unfair stand taken by certain journals, both here and in other places, in
attempting to prejudice and excite the public mind by prematurely pronouncing
judgment in the case, thereby desiring to force the public to draw conclusions
which the evidence, when published, may not, and I firmly believe will not,
warrant. I must note especially the "Globe" of Toronto, which appears
to have lost none of its wonted venom and hatred against everything Catholic.
This journal accused me of being neither careful nor scrupulous. It is not my
place, nor my wish, to pride myself on any good qualities wherewith Gad may
have gifted me, yet I shall not be deviating from the precept or example of St.
Paul, if I defy the Editor of the aforesaid journal, or any of his rivals in
the art of maligning, to convict me of anything criminal or dishonorable. I
call upon him, then, to substantiate his vile and malicious aspersions on me,
or to stand before the public in his true character, convicted and branded as
calumniator.

I shall not, for the present, notice the many groundless assertions of certain
other papers, nor shall I occupy time and your valuable space in refuting the
absurd argument attempted to be framed upon what is termed by them the
consistency or inconsistency of the late baronet. A man must always prove
himself inconsistent by delaying his repentance. When he enters upon the path
which he knows to be his duty, his act is consistent with eternal truth and
though his tardiness may have been blameable, it is wrong to assume as the
Reverend Mr. Geddes has done that he is necessarily a coward or a hypocrite
when he does right at last. According to, this manner of reasoning all the
first Christians who gave up their heathenism must also have been cowards and
hypocrites, a conclusion which even the Reverend Mr. Geddes will not dare to
accept. Probably the many prominent clergymen, the Willberforces, the Newmans
who gave up their rich livings in the Anglican Church also to become Catholics,
will likewise be set down as cowards or hypocrites. The public will understand
that this mode of speaking of converts to Catholicity is employed because it is
found to be a convenient way of avoiding the force of unpalatable facts.

I shall now proceed to state the facts
which relate to the conversion of the deceased. Several months ago, while Mr.
Daly afterwards Sir Allan's son-in-law was on a visit to the
"Castle", I, with my Vicar General, the Very Reverend E. Gordon,
dined with Sir Allan and his family. In the course of the afternoon of that
day, whilst walking on the grounds in front of his house, Sir Allan stated to
me, in the presence of my vicar general, his intention of dying a Roman
Catholic. After this statement, no one will be surprised at my taking
particular interest in his last moments, as my belief in the words of the
Athanasian Creed is practical, that without true Catholic faith, no one can be
saved.

On the Sunday evening previous to his death, I called at the Castle for the
purpose, of visiting Mrs. D. MacNab and learned from her, for the first time,
that Sir Allan was sick. On Monday or Tuesday I called, to enquire about his
health and he, learning that I was in the house, sent for me. I visited him,
and seeing that he suffered much, addressed him a few words of consolation,
exhorting him simply to pray during his suffering. After a very short visit,
when I was rising to take leave of him, he seized my . arm, and said he had not
forgotten what he had said to me sometime ago, I understood his allusion to be
to the conversation in the Castle gardens, and told him that he should lose no
time, and do at once what his conscience dictated to him.

On leaving, I informed Mrs. D. MacNab of what Sir Allan had said. Once after
this I sent to inquire as to the state of his health.

On Thursday morning, I was informed by letter that Sir Allan wished to see me
"for religious purposes," so I went at ten o'clock A.M. and was
introduced into one of the lower apartments, where I remained for some time in
conversation with Mrs. D. MacNab. Shortly after, Mr. Andrew Stuart
(brother-in-law to Sir Allan and himself a member of the Anglican Church) one
with whom I had had no previous conversation on the subject and whose feelings
respecting Sir Allan's conversion I did not know, came down and informed me
that Sir Allan wished to see me. It had been suggested to me before I reached
the Castle that as soon as it would be known that he became a Catholic, many
persons would say he was mad, wherefore, less there should be any doubt as to
his state of mind and that I might have a reliable witness, I asked Mr. Stuart,
in presence of his sister whether Sir Allan had full possession of his reason.
Mr. Stuart's answer was in the affirmative. I went immediately up to his room
and found him fully conscious. He recognized me and said he wished finally to
become a member of my Church. After a short conversation with him on the
doctrines of the Church, he made his Confession in the usual manner of
Catholics. He then, in the presence of Mr. Stuart and his sister, Mrs. D.
MacNab, in a strong and clear voice, made his full profession of the Roman
Catholic Faith, according to the formula used when Protestants become
Catholics; whereupon I received him formally into the Catholic Church. I
remained altogether in the house several hours, at least from ten o'clock A.M.
to two P.M.

The Globe reduces the whole matter in issue to the settlement of two questions:
First, was Sir Allan MacNab conscious and acquiescent on Thursday, when the
Roman Catholic Bishop administered to him the rights of that Church? Second,
was Sir Allan MacNab sensible when on the Friday morning he declared to the
Reverend Mr Geddes that he died a faithful member of the Church of England
professing his belief in the death of Christ as his sole means of salvation?

The facts which I have above stated, prove sufficiently that he was sensible
when I attended him, and will be fully sustained by the two aforesaid
witnesses, one of whom is a Protestant the other a Catholic; and whose veracity
will stand a test more rigid than, perhaps, will that of my assailants. The
"Globe" says that Dr. Craigie of Hamilton and Dr. Hamilton of Dundas
agree in stating that "on Thursday Sir Allan could not give an intelligent
acceptance to the rites administered by Bishop Farrel." No such testimony
has been published, nor do I believe that either of these gentlemen has
testified or will or can testify that, on Thursday, between the hours of ten and
twelve o'clock noon, this was the case; for it was between these hours that the
essential parts of my ministry were performed.

The Reverend Mr. Geddes says that Sir Allan declared to him "in his clear
and lucid moments" his desire to die in communion with the Church of
England. When I attended, he had more than lucid moments, but as Mr. Geddes
thinks such moments to be quite enough to prove in which church the deceased
desired to die, it is encumbent on him, to prove that he, Sir Allan, had not even
moments of lucidness between the hours of ten A.M. and twelve o'clock noon on
Thursday. The evidence which so far has been adduced does not, I apprehend,
make out this part of the reverend gentleman's case. At this period, at least,
I have shown that he was in perfect possession of his mental faculties.

After my departure, I am told the Doctors held a consultation and determined
upon changing the patient's treatment. Morphia and other-drugs, it
is said, were administered, and if so, it is not in the least surprising that a
change occurred thereafter. This will account for any change which Mr. Burton
may have observed when he called late that evening. This was likewise stated
byr Dr. Hamilton to be the reason why Mr. Geddes was refused admittance that afternoon.
Early on Friday morning I was again sent for as the messenger said Sir Allan
wished to see me.

When I entered his apartment he recognized me, prayed with me, and spoke to me
and requested me to remain with him. I gave him the benediction usually given
in such cases. By this time I perceived that he was becoming unconscious, for
which reason, anxious as I was to administer to him the Holy Communion, I
considered he was too delirious to receive that most holy of the sacraments of
the Church. I left between six and seven o'clock A.M. to say Mass for him in
the Church. At noon, I learned to my great astonishment that the Reverend Mr.
Geddes had been with him for some time, reading and praying. I deemed it my
duty to proceed at once to the Castle, where I was informed that the Rev. Mr.
Geddes had taken forcible possession of the room, notwithstanding the
resistance of those in charge of the sick man. I likewise told Mrs. D. MacNab
and Mrs. Boulton in the presence of Dr. Hamilton, who appeared to be of the
same opinion that Sir Allan was quite unconscious at the time. It was enough to
justify me, that in his senses he joined the Catholic Church, and that since
that he had not abandoned it. Certainly, if I believed that having the use of
reason, he had relapsed from his profession of Catholicity, I would have
retired immediately; nor would I, on any consideration, have officiated at his
funeral. I have good reason to believe that he was not conscious when the Rev.
Mr. Geades was present on Friday; and, indeed, it was currently reported
through the City on that morning that this was the case. I have likewise good
reason to believe that even in this delirious state, he did not acquiesce to
the ministrations of the Rev. Mr. Geddes.

Mrs. Boulton and others who were present when Mr. Geddes says he asked the
deceased the catalogue of questions which he published in his statement, did
not hear Sir Allan give the answers attributed to him. These say that he was in
such a condition that he could not understand or answer rationally the series
of interrogatories which Mr. Geddes plied him so vigorously, that the Doctor
then present thought them quite out of place. Indeed, one would naturally
suppose from the manner in which the questions were put, as well as from their
number, that the Rev. Mr. Geddes himself doubted whether the patient was in
possession of all his faculties. It would be interesting to know whether the
Rev. gentleman is on every occasion so vehement in his efforts to make the
dying understand him when they are in their senses.

Mr. Geddes said from the pulpit that in Sir Allan's clear and lucid moments our
dear departed friend expressed to me on his dying bed his desire to die in the
pure and reformed faith of the Church of England. The public have a right to
know what he means by clear and lucid moments, and will I think ask the
question whether Mr. Geddes does not by these very words prove that he himself
is at least doubtful about the consciousness of the dying man.

I have now furnished my statement of at least what I consider material to the
present controversy, and I feel satisfied that a discerning and unprejudiced
public, will, even from what has thus far been stated, see and admit that the
charge brought against me, of having received the deceased into the Church in a
state of unconsciousness is without the slightest foundation. I have now simply
to say in conclusion that the relatives to whom I referred in this statement as
being cognizant of the facts and circumstances which are alleged to have taken
place in their presence, are ready and willing to substantiate my statements
over their own respective signatures, if it be deemed necessary. But I feel
assured that what is above stated will be satisfactory to the public and that
they will not seek to drag into the arena of newspaper discussion, the
afflicted relatives of the deceased, who, we all feel, have other subjects
calling for more serious discussion.

To the editor of the Hamilton Evening Times, who throughout this discussion has
shown me every fairness, I feel very grateful. I trust that the journals, that
have attacked me so violently, will honestly repair the injury by retracting
their aspersions and inserting the above statement which I believe will satisfy
every unprejudiced mind that I perpetrated no "outrage" nor have I
used any means "dishonest and unworthy". It will be seen that I acted
in obedience to the call of duty, in accordance with the clearly expressed wish
of the dying baronet. Yours Sincerely John, Bishop of Hamilton, Hamilton August
16th, 1862."

1. The MacNabs, one of the smallest of the Scotch clans, is
thought to be a branch of the Macdonald family. Their ancestral seat was at
Loch Earn in Perthshire. After the Battle of Culloden, in 1745, the estates of
the MacNabs were confiscated to the British Crown, because of the clan's
fidelity to "Bonnie Prince Charlie"; so the last chief of the clan,
who always proudly styled himself "The MacNab", died in poverty in
Scotland, May 25, 1816. Archibald MacNab of "Kennel Lodge", Arnprior,
Chats Lake, on the Ottawa River, Ontario, a relative of the last chief, came to
Canada in 1823 at 42 years of age, and assumed the title of Chieftain. Sir
Allan was inclined to dispute his right. The family motto is "Timor omnis
abesto" (All fear be absent).

Cf. The Clans of Scotland, by Smibert, p.
152, and The Last Laird of MacNab, by Alex Fraser.

3. The "Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod" was an
officer of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada, as he is to-day of the
Senate at Ottawa. He is sent to desire the attendance of the Commons at the
opening of parliament, and he is responsible for arrangements for invitations,
seating, etc. Bourinot's Parliamentary Procedure, page 168.

4. The Home District included all the country between the
Trent River on the East and Long Point, Lake Erie, on the West.

5. Alexander Macdonell was a Catholic. He was grandfather of
the late Senator Claude Macdonell and great-grandfather of his Honor Judge J.
C. M. German, of Cobourg.

7. The first parliament buildings where Allan's father was
employed stood at the foot of Berkeley Street.

8. The Rev. George Okill Stuart was born at Fort Hunter, N.Y.,
June 29, 1776; B.A. from Harvard, 1801; MA. 1815. He taught school in Quebec,
in Kingston from 1795 to.1799; at York from 1800 to 1812. From 1800 to 1812 he
was rector of York; 1812 to 1862 was rector of Kingston. Died Oct. 5, 1862.

10. Son of Hon. Alexander Macdonell, former sheriff, who was
speaker of the Assembly from 1804 to 1809.

11. The Honorable Henry J. Boulton was the second son of the
Honorable D'Arcy Boulton. In 1828 he was Attorney General of Upper Canada. His
wife was a Jones, daughter of Ephraim Jones, a devout and practical Catholic.
Her name appears in the history of Toronto first Catholic Church, where she
held a pew. She was a great friend of Sir Allan MacNab's family, and Aunt of
Mrs. MacNab. She was present with the Baronet when he died.

12. Hamilton is named after George Hamilton (son of the.
Honorable Robert Hamilton) who moved to the district from Niagara in 1812 and
bought land there. Hamilton became a city in 1846, with a population of 6,832
souls.

13. What was known as "The Gore" comprised the
counties of Wentworth and Hamilton.

16. MacNab disliked the French and he was ever raising the
racial question. Speaking in the Assembly in 1849, he called the French
Canadians "aliens" and "rebels". Hume Blake, an Irishman of
great power of invective, answered him effectively and showed who was the real
rebel on the occasion. MacNab roared: "It is a lie; I am no rebel".
Then followed a scene of tumult in which the authority of the chair was
disregarded, members indulged in disorderly cries and the people in the
galleries added to the excitement on the floor by hisses and shouts." From
Lord Elgin, by Bourinot.

17. April 25th, 1849 The Montreal Gazette and other
papers made frantic appeals to party passions and racial prejudice.

18. Following the riots in Montreal, the Catholic Clergy of
Toronto sent Lord Elgin a letter of sympathy and loyalty.

23. I must tell the reader that, by a strange irony of fate,
George Brown's own daughter became a Catholic after her father's death. In
1917, Bishop Fallon of London, Ontario, met her in London, England, when he was
in Europe on a mission for the Canadian Government. Cardinal Bourne of
Westminster gave a reception in his honor. Amongst those who attended the
function was a lady who introduced herself with these words : "My Lord,
you do not know me and you will not believe me when I tell you that I am the
daughter of George Brown, founder of the Toronto 'Globe'. When I joined the
Catholic Church I sent the story of my conversion to my father's paper in
Toronto but the editor refused to publish it." Testimony of Brother
Alfred, F.S,G., who heard it from Bishop Fallon himself.

24. Writing in the Toronto Mirror in August, 1862,
Charles Donlevy, the editor, says: "The old Knight, even in the life-time
of his truly Catholic wife, had frequently expressed his admiration for her
religion and his conviction that it was the only true one. We were, therefore,
prepared for the announcement that he died in the profession of the Catholic
faith.""

25. Sheriff Stuart of Johnstown district was the son of the
Rev. John Stuart, first Anglican Rector of Kingston, Ontario. He was, therefore,
a brother of the Venerable Archdeacon George Okill Stuart of Kingston, who was
the first rector of St. James' Anglican Church, Toronto. The "Johnstown
District" comprised the counties of Leeds and Grenville.

26. Sheriff John Stuart, on Jan. 2:1, 1803, married Sophia
Jones, eldest surviving daughter of the Hon. Ephraim Jones (1750.18.12). Sophia
Jones was a Catholic. Her mother was Charlotte Coursolles of Verchères, a
French Canadian Catholic lady.

Of the union of Sheriff Stuart and Sophia Jones
nine children were born : Charlotte, John, Mary, Andrew, Sophia, Henry Boulton,
James, William Jones and Elizabeth. Mary married Sir Allan MacNab and Sophia
married David MacNab, Sir Allan's brother.

Three of the Catholic sisters of Sheriff Stuart's
wife married respectively into the Sherwood (Mrs. Levius Peters Sherwood),
Boulton (Mrs. Henry J. Boulton) and Leavitt families.

28. In 1842, Sir Allan was Provincial Grand Master of the
Masons for Canada. Sir Allan MacNab, by Melville Bailey.

29. In a letter which appeared in the Globe on August
15th, 1862, the Rev. Mr. Geddes says: "the first intimation I received of
Sir Allan MacNab's illness was accidental on Saturday August 2nd". When
Mr. Geddes requested to see Sir Allan, Mrs. David MacNab told him that, if Sir
Allan wished to see him, he would send for him.

31. Sir Allan's body now reposes in an unmarked grave in the
Hamilton Catholic Cemetery (Holy Sepulchre). When the city bought the strip of
land containing the MacNab burial plot, the bodies were removed (1909), seven
to the Protestant and eight to the Catholic cemetery. Dundurn Castle, by
Melville Bailey.